Flexible associativity in multitenant clustered environments

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and processes to provide flexible associativity for multitenant applications operating in clustered computing environments. A configuration file is updated by generating new relationship information based on association(s) between a parent object, that represents a dependent application, and child object(s), that represent dependee application(s). Updating the configuration file produces an updated configuration file. The new relationship information is stored in a metadata object, and the parent object is started based on the updated configuration file.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 updating, by a first computing device, a configuration file, wherein
 the updating produces an updated configuration file, and 
 the updating comprises
 generating new relationship information based on one or more associations between a parent object and one or more child objects of a plurality of child objects, and 
 storing the new relationship information in a metadata object; and 
 
 
 starting the parent object, by the first computing device, based on the updated configuration file, wherein
 the parent object represents a dependent application, 
 each of the one or more child objects represents a dependee application of one or more dependee applications, 
 the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications execute in a cluster, 
 the cluster comprises two or more computing devices, 
 the parent object and the one or more child objects execute on at least one computing device of the two or more computing devices, and 
 the parent object is associated with a pluggable portion of the dependent application. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 accessing, by the first computing device, current relationship information based on an association between the parent object and a selected child object other than the one or more child objects of the plurality of child objects; and 
 storing, by the first computing device, the current relationship information in the metadata object. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 accessing, by the first computing device, the configuration file, wherein
 the configuration file is associated with the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications of a plurality of dependee applications, 
 the configuration file comprises at least the selected child object, the parent object, and the metadata object, 
 the metadata object indicates the association between the parent object and the selected child object, and 
 the metadata object comprises dependency information. 
 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein
 the parent object is a parent node object. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein
 the one or more child objects execute on at least one of the two or more computing devices, 
 the one or more child objects are one or more child node objects, and 
 the selected child object represents a container portion of a dependee application of the plurality of dependee applications. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein
 updating the configuration file is performed at runtime by at least two of the two or more computing devices in the cluster prior to starting the parent object based on the updated configuration file. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein
 the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications execute on the at least two computing devices of the two or more computing devices in the cluster, 
 the dependent application comprises at least the pluggable portion, and 
 the one or more dependee applications comprise at least one or more additional container portions other than the container portion. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 as part of the starting,
 migrating, by the first computing device, another child object of the one or more child objects other than the selected child object to another computing device of the two or more computing devices based on the new relationship information and the current relationship information. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein
 the dependency information comprises at least
 a locality information indicating a local locality or a global locality, and 
 a rigidity information indicating a hard rigidity, a firm rigidity, or a soft rigidity. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 as part of the migrating,
 determining, by the first computing device, whether the locality information indicates the local locality or the global locality, and 
 determining, by the first computing device, whether the rigidity information indicates the hard rigidity, the firm rigidity, or the soft rigidity. 
 
 
     
     
       11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions executable to:
 update, by a first computing device, a configuration file, wherein
 updating the configuration file produces an updated configuration file, and 
 the updating comprises
 generating new relationship information based on one or more associations between a parent object and one or more child objects of a plurality of child objects, and 
 storing the new relationship information in a metadata object; and 
 
 
 start, by the first computing device, the parent object, based on the updated configuration file, wherein
 the parent object represents a dependent application, 
 each of the one or more child objects represents a dependee application of one or more dependee applications, 
 the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications execute in a cluster, 
 the cluster comprises two or more computing devices, 
 the parent object and the one or more child objects execute on at least one computing device of the two or more computing devices, and 
 the parent object is associated with a pluggable portion of the dependent application. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 access, by the first computing device, the configuration file, wherein
 the configuration file is associated with the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications of a plurality of dependee applications, 
 the configuration file comprises at least a selected child object other than the one or more child objects of the plurality of child objects, the parent object, and the metadata object, 
 the metadata object indicates an association between the parent object and the selected child object, and 
 the metadata object comprises dependency information; 
 
 access, by the first computing device, current relationship information based on an association between the parent object and the selected child object; and 
 store, by the first computing device, the current relationship information in the metadata object. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the dependency information comprises at least
 a locality information indicating a local locality or a global locality, and 
 a rigidity information indicating a hard rigidity, a firm rigidity, or a soft rigidity. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein
 the parent object is a parent node object, 
 the one or more child objects execute on at least one of the two or more computing devices, 
 the one or more child objects are one or more child node objects, 
 the selected child object represents a container portion of a dependee application of the plurality of dependee applications, 
 the dependent application and the plurality of dependee applications execute on the at least two computing devices of the two or more computing devices in the cluster, 
 the dependent application comprises at least the pluggable portion, and 
 the plurality of dependee applications comprise at least one or more additional container portions other than the container portion. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 as part of starting the parent object,
 migrate, by the first computing device, another child object of the one or more child objects other than the selected child object to another computing device of the two or more computing devices based on the new relationship information and the current relationship information; and 
 
 as part of migrating the another child object,
 determine, by the first computing device, whether the locality information indicates the local locality or the global locality, and 
 determine, by the first computing device, whether the rigidity information indicates the hard rigidity, the firm rigidity, or the soft rigidity. 
 
 
     
     
       16. A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 a memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the one or more processors to: 
 update, by a first computing device, a configuration file, wherein
 updating the configuration file produces an updated configuration file, and 
 the updating comprises
 generating new relationship information based on one or more associations between a parent object and one or more child objects of a plurality of child objects, and 
 storing the new relationship information in a metadata object; and 
 
 
 start, by the first computing device, the parent object, based on the updated configuration file, wherein
 the parent object represents a dependent application, 
 each of the one or more child objects represents a dependee application of one or more dependee applications, 
 the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications execute in a cluster, 
 the cluster comprises two or more computing devices, 
 the parent object and the one or more child objects execute on at least one computing device of the two or more computing devices, and 
 the parent object is associated with a pluggable portion of the dependent application. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 access, by the first computing device, the configuration file, wherein
 the configuration file is associated with the dependent application and the one or more dependee applications of a plurality of dependee applications, 
 the configuration file comprises at least a selected child object other than the one or more child objects of the plurality of child objects, the parent object, and the metadata object, 
 the metadata object indicates an association between the parent object and the selected child object, and 
 the metadata object comprises dependency information; 
 
 access, by the first computing device, current relationship information based on an association between the parent object and the selected child object; and 
 store, by the first computing device, the current relationship information in the metadata object. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein
 the dependency information comprises at least
 a locality information indicating a local locality or a global locality, and 
 a rigidity information indicating a hard rigidity, a firm rigidity, or a soft rigidity. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 18 , wherein
 the parent object is a parent node object, 
 the one or more child objects execute on at least one of the two or more computing devices, 
 the one or more child objects are one or more child node objects, 
 the selected child object represents a container portion of a dependee application of the plurality of dependee applications, 
 the dependent application and the plurality of dependee applications execute on the at least two computing devices of the two or more computing devices in the cluster, 
 the dependent application comprises at least the pluggable portion, and 
 the plurality of dependee applications comprise at least one or more additional container portions other than the container portion. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 as part of starting the parent object,
 migrate, by the first computing device, another child object of the one or more child objects other than the selected child object to another computing device of the two or more computing devices based on the new relationship information and the current relationship information; and 
 
 as part of migrating the another child object,
 determine, by the first computing device, whether the locality information indicates the local locality or the global locality, and 
 determine, by the first computing device, whether the rigidity information indicates the hard rigidity, the firm rigidity, or the soft rigidity.